I kept some Metro Transit brochures from when the Hiawatha Line (Blue Line) opened and noticed some routes that no longer exist or have changed quite a bit and was wondering if anyone has information on them (specific routing, frequency, why it was cut, when it was cut, etc.).

Route 586-Served the 82nd Street Transit Center, and I'm assuming was an express to downtown Minneapolis.

Route 557-At South Bloomington Transit Center you can see this route on one of the signs but its very faded.

Route 539C-Served between Normandale Village and the Best Buy HQ via Nesbitt and 90th/Poplar Bridge Rd. Routing was changed to its current form where buses operate on France Avenue. Metro Transit's Service Improvement Plan calls for bringing back this route as Route 536.

Route 24-Don't know anything about it except that it served 46th Street Station.

586 - Can't say I remember too much about this line. The 82nd St Transit Center used to be a decently major transfer point, but I think a lot of the network in that area was restructured in the early 2000s, even before the Central-South restructure in 2004.

557 - this line operated on Lyndale Ave, Diamond Lake Rd, and 35W between 106th St and Downtown. Lyndale is a much less residential street than others that host express buses (552, 553, etc) and was a poor performer. It is now part of routes 535 and 558. I am pretty sure that the (pre-renumbering) predecessor was the 47, which was an all-day express line along with the 46.

27 - the first version of the 27 dates to 2004, when the light rail opened. It used Park/Portland - 26th/28th - Cedar - Lake - Minnehaha - 46th - Hiawatha - 50th - 34th. South of Lake St was taken over by the 7 in the late 2000s. The Park/Portland and 26th/28th was a new connection. The Minnehaha service was part of the 7 before 2004, and operated to the Airport and Mall of America. Park/Portland service was restructured into the 9 (which replaced the 24) and the 26th/28th service was modified to be a crosstown line.

24 - Short lived line started in 2004 that was a combination of different routings. For a short period (IIRC, about six months) the 24 replaced the north end of the 22 on Lyndale Ave. At that time the 22 only operated between Downtown and the VA Med. Ctr. On the south end the 24 replaced the 20, with some slight modifications. The south end of the 24 is what the 9 is today, with the exception of the service changing from Hiawatha to Minnehaha between 42nd and 46th.

539C - IIRC, this route used Normandale Bl. not Nesbitt. The Poplar Bridge/Normandale routing was replaced with a double-back on 98th and France because of low-ridership. I really doubt that the route change saves any time, though. This was done recently, maybe a few years ago with some other streamlining of 539 service.

442 was replaced by Red Line north of Apple Valley. 445 (And 437) MOA service replaced by Red Line.

111 - used Hwy 77 between 66th St and MOA. Probably eliminated because of low ridership.

681 used to travel between SW Station - Golden Triangle - Southdale - Minneapolis. Early 2000s it was rerouted to Uptown. Replaced by the 684 at some point. 681 was a reverse commute bus.

631 was created in 2004 to connect SW Station to Best Buy. Was later modified to service Southdale with all day service. Cut back at various points of time, replaced with 684 and 694. The 54C was the predecessor to the 631, and was replaced with the 590 in 1999 (joint venture between MT and SWT). The 590 was shortened to MOA-West Bloomington in 2001 or 2002 and was renumbered to 540. All day service was added on 540 in Dec. 2004.

While driving I noticed a park & ride sign at Girard Avenue & Old Shakopee Road/98th Street in Bloomington. In terms of access its nice if you're going westbound, but if you had to go eastbound all I can say is good luck. Its next to a rail line, but as far as I know there have not been any considerations of light rail on these tracks so I assume its just a coincidence. Probably one of numerous underutilized surface lots rented to Metro Transit for a cheap and easy park & ride, but its no longer in use. Here is the street view-https://www.google.com/maps/@44.8267305 ... 312!8i6656